Loving a Loathed Enemy
by Lunalovely97
Summary: Alex Moran-Moriarty thinks it's time for his girlfriend Victoria to meet his parents, which doesn't sound so bad. It wouldn't be if Alex's dads weren't two famous criminals who had a feud with Sherlock Holmes, Victoria's father. Bringing their relationship out in the open proves more dangerous than either one of them could have predicted. Parentlock. Cowritten with sazann
1. Chapter 1

Victoria racked her brain, thinking of the conversation she had yesterday with her boyfriend, Alex. He had talked to her, explaining how they needed to eventually get around to telling his parents about their relationship. The thought of facing his parents, the two most dangerous men in London, gave her an uneasy feeling in her stomach. They were planning on telling them today. How would they react? After a moment of contemplation, Victoria pulled out her phone and sent a text to Alex.

* * *

Alex, are you sure it's a good idea to tell your parents about us? VWH

I'm never sure about anything. But if we wait till later, it'll just be worse. - AMM

Okay. If you think so. How do you think they'll take it? VWH

Are you scared of what they'll say? - AMM

A little, yeah. Just not sure what to expect. VWH

Don't worry, if anything goes wrong, which it won't, I'll be right there. - AMM

Okay. When do you want me to come over? VWH

Well they're both in the living room discussing business. It's rare to have them both home at the same time, so as soon as possible I guess. But like I said, living room, so come in through my window. - AMM

Okay. I can be there in ten minutes. Meet you at the window, Romeo. VWH

Shouldn't I be the one outside your window? :) - AMM

Sorry. Terrible analogy. VWH

Fair enough. See you then... Rapunzel? VWH

Better. That one doesn't end in double suicide. - AMM

* * *

Victoria grinned and put the phone away in her room. Leaving the flat, she walked through the streets towards Alex's house. Roughly ten minutes later, she arrived at his house, hurrying quickly to the side and pulling herself up on the tree branch in front of Alex's window, knocking on the ran to his window, opening it for her and helping her inside.

"So, you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." she told him, smoothing out her skirt. "You?"

"Yeah," he said weakly. He walked towards the door, holding out his hand for her. "When we reach the living room, stay outside and hidden until I tell you to come out. It's best to explain first."

Victoria took his hand, nodding. "Got it. Anything else I need to know?" she asked, walking with him.

"Yeah, you normally say what you want and don't care what other people think, and as much as I love that about you, please try to stay on Jim's good side. Please," he pleaded, giving her a very serious look. They walked down the stairs, stopping at the hallway outside the living room.

"I will. Promise." Victoria assured him. "I know it's important. Should I wait here?"

"Yeah, I'll be right back." He entered the living room, his parents immediately stopping the conversation.

"Alex, we're busy. What is it?" Alex took a deep breath, trying to muster up the courage. "Oh, it's just that, well, I kind of got a girlfriend, and-". After a few congratulatory remarks from Sebastian, Alex continued. "And we've been together for a while,so I thought it was about time you met her." He walked back to the door, reaching out for her hand again. "This is Victoria."


	2. Chapter 2

Victoria took Alex's hand and walked in with him. Victoria smoothed down her hair with her other hand as a sort of calming mechanism. "Hi." said Victoria quietly.

As Sebastian's smile disappeared off his face, Jim's only grew. "Ms. Watson-Holmes, correct?" Jim said casually stepping closer.

Victoria nodded in response, squeezing Alex's hand a bit tighter. She made eye contact with Jim and responded. "Um, yes. That's me."

Jim continued to walk slowly towards them. "You are aware of me and your father's _complicated_ relationship?" Alex looked towards his dad, hoping he would say something to Jim. He might appear calm, but he knew Jim, and he definitely wasn't alright with this.

Sebastian lifted his eyebrows. Really, he wasn't happy with the idea of Alex dating Holmes' daughter either. Jim was up to something- when wasn't he? - although Seb was at a loss as to what it was. Victoria looked around cautiously, chewing on her bottom lip. "Yes, I am." she responded.

"And, unless you're a complete idiot, which is unlikely considering who your father is, you've considered this to be sane. To sneak into /my/ house, and fool around with my son?" Alex pushed Victoria back, behind him. "Speaking of your father, you being here might be a good thing," he mused, getting lost in thought.

"This is going really badly, what do we do now?" Victoria whispered to Alex urgently, taking an instinctive step back. So much for nothing going wrong.

Alex shook his head. "I know what you're thinking, Jim, and no, don't you dare," Alex kept backing away, trying to make it to the door,but Jim kept walking closer, not taking his eyes off of Victoria.

"Alex, what's going on?" asked Victoria quietly to Alex, backing up along with him and glancing over her shoulder.

Alex was too busy focusing on Jim to notice his dad. Sebastian obviously knew where this was going, and even if he didn't want to, he had to follow Jim's wishes. Alex felt his dad's strong hands pull him away from Victoria. Jim's hand latched onto Victoria's wrist, not letting her run away. "How about we call Daddy? Tell him where you are, who you're with, and why?"

Seb held strongly to Alex, as a precaution to ensure that he didn't run over to Victoria. Victoria glared at Jim. "Go to hell." she muttered. It wasn't as though he could hate her more anyway, she thought.

"Oh don't you worry about that, sweetie, I've got a special place reserved for me there," he smiled, not letting go of her. Alex fought against his dad's hold. "She hasn't done anything wrong! Just let her go!"

Jim took out his mobile, putting it on speaker phone. "Hello, Sherlock! You see, I'm calling because I've seemed to have found something that belongs to you. Don't worry, she's in good company."

"Don't worry, dad, I'm fine." Victoria called before Sherlock's response was heard over the speaker. "Let her go, now."

"Oh, don't blame me, Sherlock. She came here of her own free will." He turned towards Victoria. "Shall I explain, or do you want to?"

Victoria glared at Jim venomously. "...I've been dating his son without telling you. Things aren't really turning out at the moment." she muttered.

Sherlock took a deep breath. "Where are you right now? Address," he said. Jim put the phone down on a table, freeing his hand so he could cover Victoria's mouth. "Sorry, but that's not how the game works!"

"You obviously want something, you aren't calling to have a chat about the relations of our children. What is it?" demanded Sherlock. Victoria, startled at the hand clamped down on her mouth, did the only thing she could think of and bit down hard on his hand.

"Oh, their relationship? That just gave me an excuse, to start off a new game. Only this time, if you win, you get your prize. Extra incentive," he said, as pulled his hand away from her mouth.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "What are the rules?" Sherlock demanded

"Forgive me if it's not up to par with the usuals, but this was rather spontaneous. How about a good old game of hide and seek? Who knows, maybe I'll just break your little toy beyond repair. I could knock two birds with one stone if I did. But let's keep it simple. You find us, you win your prize. Involve Big Brother or the police and you'll never see her again."

Alex had stopped struggling against his dad, but after hearing that, he began to thrash even harder. "No! Just leave her alone!"

After a moment of silence, Sherlock spoke up, sounding quite strained. "Very well. I'll find you all quite soon. Victoria, don't worry. You'll be all right."

"I don't think soo.." said Jim in a singsong voice, before hanging up. "You know, I've been looking for a reason to talk to your dear dad again. Thanks love, and thank you Alex," he said, turning to his son, "for bringing her here. Saved me the trouble. Seb, Lock Alex upstairs and then escort our lovely guest to the basement. Alex can come out when he starts to behave."


	3. Chapter 3

Sebastian took his son upstairs, taking him to his room and locking the door on him. Victoria glared at Jim, but figured it best not to say anything. "Oh, don't look like that, sweetheart. I hate it when people are mad at me," he said with a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

"Did you really think Alex was stupid enough to not know how I'd react? Was he so lovestruck he didn't realise the consequences? Or was he ordered to lure you here?" Jim lied. If she was smarter than she seemed, she wouldn't believe him. But Jim always loved planting that seed of doubt, because it will always grow, at least for a while.

"You're lying. He wouldn't do that. He's not like you." she insisted. She didn't believe him, not for a minute. Well... it was _possible_, she supposed, but it seemed unlikely. It was much more likely that he was simply lying than it was for Alex to have pretended about their relationship for so long, just to get her here.

"Honey, he's more like me than you'd like to believe." He grinned.

"Oh, Seb," he said, as Seb walked into the room. Jim pushed Victoria into his arms. "I think there's some extra rope lying around downstairs. Make use of it."

Sebastian nodded and all but dragged Victoria downstairs and into the basement, tying her tightly to one of the columns supporting the roof.

After Alex's fifth attempt at ramming his door down, he sank down to the floor, clutching his bruised shoulder. He looked towards the window and regained his ambition. He opened it, looked down and deemed the three meters safe, before jumping out. He quickly ran across to the back, praying his parents hadn't heard him.

Alex ran towards the small basement window that was in the backyard. He pushed it open, hoping his dad was already upstairs "Vic? Are you alright?" he called out into the darkness.

Victoria turned her head over to the sound of Alex's voice. "Alex? Don't worry, I'm fine." she called back. Following the sound of her voice, he found her sitting on the ground, tied to a support beam. "Do you have your phone? Was planning on telling your father where you were, but my dad nicked mine."

Victoria shook her head. "No, otherwise I'm sure my father would have already called it. Aren't there a bunch of phone booths on the next street corner, though?"

"You're brilliant, Vic!" he said, trying to keep his voice down. "Don't worry, I'll be right back for you," he said, running off before she could answer. Alex was filled with relief. He'd take whatever punishment his dads could lay on him, whatever threats Sherlock Holmes could scare him with, but at least Victoria would be safe. But, when he walked back to the front of his house, he discovered his father waiting for him. "Going somewhere? You know, you should really learn how to move more silently."

"Oh, um... I was just..." Alex stammered, trying to come up with an explanation.

"...Out of your room, trying to help your little tramp escape." Jim knew he wasn't strong enough to detain Alex anymore, Sebastian was all the muscle he ever needed, so he quickly ordered him to grab hold of Alex again, before he'd have a chance to run. Seb took hold of Alex, who protested. "Just let her go!"

"Well, since you wanted to help her so badly..." Jim trailed off. "Take him downstairs and stay there. Don't let him go" he said to Sebastian, already walking back inside the house. "I'll be there in a few moments."

Sebastian wasn't entirely sure what Jim was on about, but he brought Alex downstairs nevertheless. It was too dark for Victoria to really see properly, but she heard Alex anyway. "Alex? You're back?"

"Yes, but not with the help I wanted to bring," he said, as he walked down the stairs. The lights turned on, and Alex saw Jim at the top of the stairs. Something in his hand glinted, reflecting the light. Oh no. "I guess you're getting too old to be told to go to your room. You might need a bigger punishment." He walked down the stairs, the knife in his hand now obvious.

Alex began to struggle again as Jim made his way to Victoria. "I must say, at least you picked a beautiful girl, but let's see how long that'll last."

"No, no, no, no ..." Victoria murmured, struggling in vain against the ropes holding her back. God, this day was going to shit. _Father, hurry up, get here, _she thought to herself.

"Oh, don't worry," he said, after she protested. "If he really does care about you, I'm sure Alex will still love you even after I ruin your pretty face." As he dug the knife into her cheek, Alex struggled to try and run over to Victoria, but he wasn't strong enough. "No!" he called out.

Victoria let out a loud cry, closing her eyes in order to stop any tears of pain- she knew the salt would sting even more. Even so, a few escaped, causing her to whimper softly.

"Doesn't she look wonderful, Alex?" he said, grabbing her chin in his hand and lifting it up, forcing him to look at the large red gash in the shape of a heart.

He dropped her chin and walked towards Alex, who looked at him with rage. Jim cleaned his knife on the boy's shirt, making sure the symbolism was evident. "I think that was an appropriate punishment. What do you think, Seb? Should we leave them alone down here so he can think on his sins or keep them apart?"

Sebastian thought for a minute. "Your call, but I think it's better if they're down here."

"Fine, but tie his hands. Sorry, son, I don't like treating you this cruelly, believe me, but it's for your own good. And I can't have you ruining my plans."

Alex wasn't having it, glaring fiercely at Jim while Sebastian restrained his hands.

Jim made his way up the stairs, before pausing after hearing Alex mutter "You fucking bastard.." He didn't look back, finally deciding to just continue up the stairs.


	4. Chapter 4

Victoria waited until Alex was the only other person in the room before speaking again, shakily. "...God." she muttered simply, moving her head towards her shoulder to clean the blood off her cheek.

Alex walked up to her, ignoring the guilt gnawing at him from the inside. He sat down next to her, wishing he could wrap his arms around her. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's okay." she told him- a little white lie, as she saw it. She didn't want him to worry, even if not worrying was a little impossible at this stage. "It wasn't your fault." That much was true.

"No, it's not. I was an idiot. I see them differently, because they're my dads and they've never been anything but accepting, but they're dangerous. I can't deny it, and yet I still let _this_ happen. Stupid!" He would have punched himself if he could. He felt Victoria lean her head into his arm, and he leaned his head onto hers. "This _is _my fault."

"No, it's theirs. You couldn't have known." she assured him, resting her head on his shoulder to remind herself that he was right there. Her cheek still stung, but at least it wasn't bleeding any more. "Well, at least we know what not to do in the future." She gave him a forced smile.

"You know, Romeo and Juliet never told their family about their relationship, and it ended up in three murders and three suicides. I think their ending was happier," he said, cracking a smile.

"I suppose my earlier comparison was actually more accurate than we first thought." she remarked, looking over to him and making a small gesture with her eyes towards her cheek. "It's a shape, right? I can't see it." she asked him quietly.

Alex nodded. "A heart. Jim must think he's freaking hilarious. The bastard..."

"...Ah." she nodded. "How bad is it, do you think? I can't really tell from here." she asked softly.

"Don't worry, it hasn't damaged your beautiful face. Nothing could," he teased.

Victoria gave him a small smile in response. "I hope not."

"...I know it might be dumb to worry about it at a time like this, but still, I need to know. After this whole situation is cleared up, you'll probably never want to see me again."

"I will." she assured him. "I just don't know if it'll be possible, with both our sets of parents knowing. They'll probably pay close attention to make sure we _don't _see each other. I hope it'll be possible anyway."

"I was gonna say, with all this happening, you should stay away from me. I don't want you getting hurt because of me ever again."

"It wasn't because of you, it was because of your family." she assured him.

"But it was. You heard him. " He motioned towards her face. "He hurt you to punish _me. _And probably to piss off your father too. "

"I'm not blaming you." She made a small shrugging motion with her shoulders.

"You should. Then you could join the club. I'm the leader, Jim's the founder, and your dads are the newest members," he said with a smile, trying to cheer her up. "I'll be that person who shows up at the door of your club protesting all the meetings." she replied, offering a small smile in return.

"Do you ever wish you had a different family?" he asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

"...Sometimes," she admitted. "I'm sure you do."

"I mean, they really do care about me," he took notice of Victoria's incredulous look. "In their own way. I know, it's hard to tell. But sometimes, I just wish I hadn't grown up the way I did. Every week them running off and me not knowing if they'll be killed or arrested, or the training they forced on me..." In the six months they were together, he'd never revealed to her his true capabilities, like how he could kill a man barehanded in five different ways, he thought it would scare her off.

"They trained you? To do what?" she asked him. They knew each other well, it wasn't often that they learned something about the other that they didn't already know. Thus, it was strange when they did.

"How to fight, handle a weapon, all sorts of rubbish like that. And not just for defense," he said, keeping it a bit vague. He looked at her closely, trying to determine her emotions. Honestly? He'd kind of enjoyed learning these things, but he didn't want Victoria to distrust him.

Victoria furrowed her brows, "You've never brought it up before." she murmured, looking confused, although not upset.

"I'm not exactly proud of it. Besides, what good did it do today, when I needed it the most? Of course, they taught me everything I know, just not everything they do."

"It wasn't your job to be stronger than them." she assured him. "And you don't have to be ashamed of anything, either."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." But then he cracked a smirk. "Although, there is one skill I've been perfecting myself. Takes a while, but it comes in handy" he said, putting his arm over her shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, really now?" she murmured, putting her head on Alex's shoulder.

Alex gave a chuckle. "Victoria, I know you're a little stressed and completely missing the obvious because of it, but what is A, resting on your shoulder, B, not behind my back, and C, not restrained anymore?" he asked, waiting for the realisation to hit her.

Victoria paused for a second before grinning widely. "You're brilliant, Alex."

He got up, starting to work on the ropes that held her down. "A trick my dad taught me. Remember how I said they care about me in strange ways? Jim doesn't know my dad taught me. Plus, why else would he convince him to leave me here with you? Gotta love him sometimes." He let the last knot loose, helping her up and wrapping his arm around her. "Sorry it took so long, but it's harder when my hands are behind my back. Looked more believable, I guess."

Victoria rubbed her wrists and stood up, steadying herself a little bit. "We should get out of here before they figure it all out. That didn't go so well last time." she urged him.

"I'd say the window, but it's too high up. And even if I did lift you up, it might be too small." It probably wasn't too small, but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to lift her anyways. He very nearly broke his own wrists trying to get out of the binds, and was hiding how much it actually hurt him. His hands were now basically useless when it came to applying force, unless he wanted to finish the job.

"Hmm..." Victoria thought for a moment. "We can't very well go up the stairs because they'd hear the door open, and the window wouldn't work. Is there a way we can get out without going upstairs? Is this the only room in the basement?"

"No, but we have the same situation. Just more windows made so that only anorexic pixies could make it through." He saw the hope she had in her face diminish."But we could try. I'm not sure I could fit, but you probably could." He hoped she appreciated the things he did for her. Then again, she was so amazing, she probably did. He quickly snapped out of it, now wasn't the time to get distracted.

"Not if I'm only fitting through. We're either both going or neither of us are." Victoria said firmly. "Worth a try, though. What do you think we could use in here to stand on? And we need a plan for once we get out the window."

"I have a plan. You run. Really, really fast." He looked around the basement. They didn't really use it much, so there wasn't really anything in there. "Let me just give you a lift, okay? If I can't make it through, doesn't matter. This is my house after all, and I can't really run away from it. I knew I was going to get in trouble for helping you from the start, I chose this. They won't hurt me, not like they would hurt you. I just want you safe. Now get on," he said, knitting his hands together.

Victoria nodded before standing tentatively onto the step created by Alex's hands and climbing up onto the window frame. "At least try to follow." she told him, pushing the window open and crawling through the small space.

Alex was shaking, successfully keeping himself quiet, until he felt his wrist snap. He yelled against his will, dropping to the ground, cradling his wrist, unintentionally causing Victoria to lose her grip. The noise had been heard upstairs and they quickly heard the locks on the door unlatch and footsteps go down the stairs. "Oh, fuck," Alex muttered under his breath.


	5. Chapter 5

"...Shit." muttered Victoria, hearing the sound of footsteps. "We need somewhere to hide. Alex, is your wrist okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah, it's fine," he lied, not sounding very believable. He grabbed onto her wrist with his other hand and led her into the darkness. "I'm so sorry, I screwed this all up again! Are you alright?" he asked, even if the fall wasn't that big.

"Fine. I'm- I'm more worried about you, Alex. I heard your wrist break!" she insisted. She was such a mother sometimes. "Oh, God, they're coming downstairs, aren't they?"

He covered her mouth with his hand, putting his other hand's finger to his lips. He took her hand, tapping the Morse code on it.

... - .- -.- / -.-. .- .-.. - / .- -. -.. / -.- ..- .. . - / ... .- . . - ... . .- .-. - /

(Stay calm and quiet, sweetheart)

He heard his dad muttering "How the hell am I gonna explain this to Jim? The bugger couldn't have been a little more quiet..." He ran back up the stairs, having no choice but to tell Jim that they escaped. Victoria stayed perfectly quiet, waiting until the noises had died down before responding to Alex with taps.

- ... . -.- / - ... .. -. -.- / .- . / -. - - / .- .- .- -.-

(They think we got away)

-. - -/ -. - - -.. / ... . / .- .- -. - .../ ..- .../ - -/ - . .- -. .. -. -. / ... - / .- .. .-.. .-.. / -.- . . .-./ ... .. -/ .. -./ -. -/

. ... -.-. .- .-. .

(Not good. He wants us to, meaning he will keep him in. No escape)

He hoped she understood what he was saying. If he actually led Jim outside, then they could run up the stairs and run out the back entrance, but not if Seb is trying to help them, unknowingly damning them. His prediction came true, when he heard two sets of footsteps running down the stairs.

Hearing the footsteps, Victoria tensed up, holding on tightly to Alex's hand as opposed to tapping out another message. She instinctively stepped a little further into the shadows.

Alex didn't move a muscle, hoping they would just walk back upstairs to try and find them. As he heard the creak of the steps, his dad's voice rang out. "Wait! We're not sure if they ran off, they could still be in here." Oh thank you so freaking much, Dad. He appreciated his desire to help, but mentally cursed his stupidity, and the fact that it wasn't stupid at all, just a logical assumption that they would be long gone.

"Fuck." Victoria mouthed silently, tapping a message to Alex urgently.

.- ... .- - / -.. - / .- . / -.. - / -. - .- ..-..

(What do we do now?)

Alex shrugged his shoulders- he was out of ideas. He suddenly felt Victoria being pulled away from his hand. "You breathe really loudly when you're nervous, did you know that?" Jim murmured to Victoria.

Victoria did, as a matter of fact, know that- it was a bit hard not to when she was now hyperventilating. She was sure he wouldn't hesitate to hurt her again if he wanted to, and the situation didn't look very good. She chose not to reply, and she was too scared to say anything anyway.

Alex didn't even charge at him, despite his anger growing. All that would accomplish was having his dad be forced to hold him back.

"Well, I guess since you both can't stay out of trouble, we should just bring you upstairs so we can watch over you. Bring the rope, Seb."

Sebastian gave Alex an apologetic look before fetching the rope from where Alex and Victoria had left it. "Got it."

"Alex, are you joining us, or are you going to stay here and abandon your little girlfriend?" Alex followed them up the stairs, seething.

Victoria exchanged a quick look with Alex as though wanting to see some reassurance from him, but none was there. The only thing to do was hope Sherlock would figure out where she was soon enough and get her out of there.

When they reached the living room, Sebastian held her down as Jim tied her to one of their chairs. "Now, we can't just let what happened go without punishment, can we Seb?" Sebastian begrudgingly muttered a sound of agreement.

Jim's voice suddenly filled with fake concern. "Oh, Vicky, I forgot! That horrible thing on your face, it's going to get infected," he said, running a finger down the cut. "We might just have to cauterize it, for your benefit," he said, taking out a lighter. Alex, of course, sprinted towards them, his emotion overtaking his logic, but of course, he was pulled back by Sebastian, who muttered an apology in his ear.

Victoria closed her eyes tightly, knowing very well what was coming. "Please, don't..." she pleaded, looking away and at the ground.

Time felt like it was slowing down. Every second seemed agonizingly long. Victoria let out a loud scream of pain, trying to turn her head away from the fire (albeit quite unsuccessfully). It wasn't stopping, the sting of the cut combined with the pain of the flame. She was not going to cry. She was not going to cry. Fuck it, she was crying, and she was fairly certain Alex was as well. After a while Alex had stopped struggling, deciding to just look down on the ground and shut his eyes to stop the tears. The burning sensation just hurt her so much, and the fact that it was in front of Alex wasn't helping.

Sebastian took out his phone, feeling it ring in his pocket. Still keeping a grip on Alex, he viewed the text. "Jim! Security warned, they're on the way here." Thankfully, that stopped him. Sebastian usually wouldn't care much for Jim's victims, but to force Alex to watch it... He didn't really give two shits about Jim's obsession with destroying Sherlock Holmes, so he couldn't help feeling a bit bad about the whole thing. Alex hadn't cried in over seven years, poor kid must really care about her.

Victoria let out a soft sigh of relief at that, opening her eyes if only to exchange looks with Alex. Thank God. They would be here soon. That meant, however, that she might not see Alex again- as if her dads would let her be with him after _this_. She hoped she would anyway.


	6. Chapter 6

It only took Sherlock a few seconds in Victoria s room to find her phone, discarded on the floor.  
Victoria never parted with her phone, and considering the new information he was given about who Victoria texted, Sherlock now knew why. As for why her phone was lying carelessly on the floor, she most likely dropped it unknowingly. Nervous, unaware of her actions, probably rushing. He picked it up, looking through her most recent text messages with Alexander Moran-Moriarty. According to the timeframe Sherlock managed to set up, it took Victoria ten minutes to walk to her destination and she had been here in 221B only 20 minutes before, according to the time her last text was sent. He mentally mapped a kilometre wide perimeter around Baker st, as to where she could possibly be. He knew she was still there as well, and not moved to another location, because of the call he had received. There would have been no time to move her. All he needed was one more answer. Where the hell did Moriarty live?

* * *

Sherlock didn't want to alarm John on what had happened, so he had gone to the house alone. The door was open, an obvious invitation from Jim. He carefully stepped in, his hand on the gun in his pocket.  
Sebastian checked his phone, looking at the message. "Jim. He's at the front door." he informed Jim. Victoria mentally thanked whatever gods there were out there.  
"Oh, don't be shy, Sherlock," Jim called out. "Vicky here has been waiting to get picked up." he said. Sherlock rounded the corner, trying to not to show any emotion on his face. Jim had one hand in her hair, yanking it back, the other with a knife over her exposed neck. "Jim, let her go." said Sherlock coldly, glaring at Jim. "This is between us."  
Jim groaned. "But wouldn't it be more fun like this? Making you look for your pet after all those years has gotten so repetitive, why not bring in new toys to play with? This one is just perfect, don't you think?" Victoria squeezed her eyes shut, trying her best not to move. She shot a glance at her father, hoping he would know how to get her out of this.  
"I have found her." muttered Sherlock, keeping a hard glare on his face, although it was obvious to him that Victoria was in pain, which he couldn't bear. "Let. Her. Go."  
"Oh, but that's not the only reason she's here. See, if I kill her, then I not only fulfill the promise to burn out your heart," he said, running his thumb over her burned and stinging skin. Victoria flinched at the touch, the wound still indubitably painful. "It also solves my problem with these two," he said, motioning towards Alex and her. "But then again, she's such a valuable weakness, I couldn't just get rid of her like this," he mused, still undecided. Sherlock was outright terrified of anything happening to her, but he was keeping his cool on the outside. "Harm her further and I will kill you." Sherlock threatened.

"You know what, Sherlock? I think I will let her live. But only so we can have these wonderful chats again." He rested his head in the crook of Victoria's neck. "I'll be seeing you again soon, sweetheart," he growled. Jim lowered the knife, pushing her to the ground next to Sherlock. "Now, get out of my house before I change my mind and have your entire family killed, Sherlock. I have my own child to attend to," he said, walking towards Alex.

Sherlock quickly helped Victoria up, pulling her into a tight hug. "Are you okay?" he asked her quietly. Victoria nodded quickly and he hurried her out of the house, needing to guarantee her safety.  
Victoria looked back as her father led her away, taking one last look at Alex before her father closed the door. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I should have told you sooner."  
"We'll discuss it more at length later. The important thing right now is that you're safe. I was so worried about you." said Sherlock softly. Victoria was still shaking slightly- that past hour or so had been the most terrifying time of her life.

* * *

John sat in the flat on his laptop, the only sound that could be interpreted as even vaguely disruptive being the sound of the keyboard clicking, typing away another detailed account of one of his cases with Sherlock for his blog. Sherlock had gone off God knows where, and he remembered hearing something about Victoria going off to see a friend, so he had decided to settle in and make a cuppa. About two paragraphs into the blog entry, he heard footsteps coming upstairs. "Sherlock, that you-" he asked, pausing. "Something wrong?"  
John's eyes widened as Sherlock walked up the stairs, holding on to Victoria. She was shaking, sweating all over, and more importantly, there was dried blood on her face.

"Oh my god! Victoria, what's happened to you?" He ran over to them, helping Sherlock support her. They laid her down on the couch, where John took a better look at her while Sherlock went to get the first aid kit. Victoria stared up at the ceiling, almost unresponsive.

"Her pulse is elevated, but it's weak. Rapid, shallow breathing, sweating, she is in shock, Sherlock," he said, as he took the first aid kit from him." What the hell have you done?"

"It was Moriarty." Sherlock spoke just quietly enough for John to hear him, not wanting to upset Victoria."He was almost going to kill her, thank god he didn't.

"What?!" John yelled. He looked back at Victoria, and quickly lowered his voice. "I swear, if you got her involved in one of your stupid bloody games with Moriarty..." He was so angry, and worried, and scared, he couldn't even think about how he would end that empty threat. "I thought you said you hadn't heard from him in years. What did you do?"

"John," Sherlock began quietly, "That was not what happened. I received a call stating that she had been taken and that she was in a... relationship with their son. I arrived at the home, she was injured, and after a strained conversation she was... released." he summarized tersely.

"I wasn't taken," they both heard from behind them. They quickly turned around, happy that she was at least responding to them. She hadn't spoken to Sherlock during the whole trip back.

"I-I went there by myself. I was stupid, I-" her voice faltered, and she hid her face in her hands. "I m so sorry!" she cried out. Sherlock put a gentle hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Don t apologize. he told her, and turned back to John." John, she needs medical attention." he prompted. "Oh, of course!" He gently cleaned the wound with a paper towel doused in water, which also helped soothe the burn. After applying antibiotic cream and covering the wound with an aseptic bandage, he kissed her forehead and covered her up with a blanket. Victoria shrunk into the blanket, letting it wrap around her almost like a cocoon; the warmth and comfort of it providing some reassurance that she was home and safe.

"I'm sorry, I was so stupid and didn't tell you sooner," she said quietly, nestling her head into a fold in the blanket. "It's alright, love." John sat down next to her, running his fingers through her hair to calm her down, like he used to when she was little." You can tell us later, when you're feeling better, okay?" Victoria nodded. "Okay." she said softly, relaxing a little bit more. "I just know it was a bad idea to keep it from you." John nodded. "We can talk about it another time, for now, you need some rest."

* * *

"Are you still having nightmares? Victoria shook her head, but her face made the answer clearly evident. Dr. Thompson nodded knowingly. "I'd be surprised if you weren't. Victoria, there is nothing to be ashamed of. Three months is a surprisingly short time for your level of recovery. These things take time, but you will get better."

Victoria nodded. "It is getting better, though. I know I'm not there yet, but... I think it is getting there."

"Have you been keeping yourself distracted, like I recommended last week? You need to find your way back to the present, to stop repeating the same scenario. Remind yourself it is over. And just doing simple things that keep your focus, writing a journal, painting, reading, it honestly helps."

"Well, I have been reading more lately," said Victoria, thinking back a bit. And I've helped my dad with a few science experiments, and those are always good. Um, so I am doing a bit better, there."

Dr. Thompson nodded and wrote a few notes into a book. "You keep saying that, but do you really believe it? You have to make sure you do."

"Well, I'm trying to. she explained- it was part of her logic that if she said something enough times, she would eventually start to believe it. "I do, mostly."

"You've made a huge improvement, but you have to learn how to express yourself, Victoria. I can t help you if you won't talk to me. I'll be seeing you again next week, okay?" she said, giving her a sympathetic smile. Victoria smiled back. "All right, I'll see you then," she said, standing up.

Victoria stepped out into the chilly November weather, putting on her gloved before raising her arm up high, yelling for a taxi to take her home. She took out her phone, and once again, stayed for what seemed like an eternity, staring at the first name on her list. Many times during the past three months she found herself thinking, wondering if she should give him a call, maybe get some closure; they had ended so abruptly. Instead, she did what she hadn't had the nerve to do before. Without a bit of regret, she removed his number from her phone.

Nothing looked different, but everything felt different. It was time to let go and move on. Time to forget about that day, and to forget about Alex, and maybe, just maybe, she had finally gotten past the first step.

* * *

**AN: aaand that's it! I really loved writing the fic, and I'm glad people actually read it. I'm already co-writing the sequel, but it'll be a while before I post it. I know it's done and all, but would anyone mind giving a review? I just want some feedback and constructive criticism on how I did. This was my first fic**


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